It started with California, then New York followed. Two weeks later, 42 states now have issued a stay-at-home or a shelter-in-place order in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19 across the United States.

A stay-at-home order, or a shelter-in-place in some states, restricts residents from leaving their house for non-essential activity — any travel that isn’t going to buy groceries, pick up medicine, see a doctor, go for a short jog or take the dog for a walk is not permitted.

The first state to issue an order for residents to stay home was California on March 19. South Carolina is the newest state to issue a mandate, their shelter-in-place not going into effect until 5 p.m. on April 6.

One common trait amongst each of the eight states is they are all run by Republican governors, all arguing that a full, state-wide shutdown is unnecessary because they have closed schools and non-essential businesses in an effort to flatten the curve.

“I can’t lock the state down,” said Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds “People also have to be responsible for themselves.”

According to USA Today, eight of 50 states — Arkansas, Iowa, North and South Dakota, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Utah and Wyoming — still do not have any specific mandate or order to keep residents in their home. Instead, they are encouraging residents to practice physical distancing.

Aerial view of light traffic is light during the evening rush hour on South Figueroa Street and the 110 freeway amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 6, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.Mario Tama/Getty Images

Arkansas and Iowa have strongly advised residents to avoid gatherings exceeding 10 people and stay in their home as much as possible, but have not made any order or rule to accompany that. Governor Asa Hutchinson said he is going for a more “targeted approach” and doesn’t want to pass any kind of sweeping legislation.

“I do not want to go to a shelter-in-place environment,” Hutchinson said.

While Nebraska and North Dakota shut the doors of schools and all non-essential businesses that aren’t grocery stores, pharmacies or banks, there is still no mandate that keeps residents strictly in their homes despite pleas from public health officials. “It’s not about staying home, it’s about avoiding contact,” said Doug Burgum, the governor of North Dakota.

Pedestrians wearing protective masks walk through a nearly empty Mott Street in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York, U.S., on Monday, April 6, 2020.Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg

South Dakota has also not issued a state-wide order, but cities such as Sioux Falls and Huron have taken action. Governor Kristi Noem said that while these travel limits work in cities, it wouldn’t work quite the same in smaller towns, hence the absence of a state-wide, shelter-in-place mandate.

Oklahoma does have a “Safer at Home’’ order, but it’s only directed towards those who are a part of a vulnerable population, like the elderly and people who are immunocompromised.

Governor Kevin Stitt did, however, issue an order for all travellers coming from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, Louisiana and Washington to self-isolate for 14 days upon their arrival in Oklahoma.

The historic Eagle Gate Monument spans an empty State Street normally filled with cars during the190th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on April 4, 2020 in Salt Lake City, Utah.George Frey/Getty Images

In Utah, Salt Lake County closed a number of businesses and instructed its residents to only leave their home for “essential activities.” There is no statewide mandate, but governor Gary Herbert issued a a set of directives for citizens to follow, but they are “not to be confused with a shelter-in-place order.”

Wyoming has shut down schools and non-essential businesses, but governor Mark Gordon said on March 30 he has no plans for any kind of stay-at-home order for the state. “If we’re going to issue a shelter-in-place or stay-at-home order, it will not have multiple exemptions. It will be a true stay-at-home order.”

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